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tv   Deutsche Welle Journal  LINKTV  March 24, 2013 2:30pm-3:00pm PDT

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>> you are watching the journal, coming to you from berlin. coming up in the show, it is down to the wire in brussels. still no deal on saving cyprus from economic disaster. the central african republic. the president flees as the capital falls to rebels. his teammate mark webber is not amused. the future of cyprus is being decided in brussels tonight. for the past several hours,
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president nicos anastasiades has been locked in talks with leaders from that you, ecb, and imf, try to find a way of rescuing his country's economy after a week on the brink of disaster. talks have significantly overrun, adding to fears that the deal is far from certain. we will go live to brussels in a moment. >> president nicos anastasiades left of cyprus behind for a chilly brussels. he is trying to broker a deal with eu finance ministers by monday to secure aid for his beleaguered country. his eu colleagues are demanding the cyprus raise the sum of 5.8 billion euros itself in order to release a rescue loan package. a compulsory levy on savings may be the only answer. but major investors in cyprus's biggest bank, the bank of cyprus, could lose up to 20% of their deposits.
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not surprisingly, it's an unpopular measure. >> nearly everyone's going to lose some money. of course, the amount will be greater for some than for others. and that's that. >> there is anger at the nation's creditors. >> the germans are only interested in themselves. they don't care about anyone else. >> cyprus's banks have been closed for a week. the european central bank has threatened to cut off the island's emergency funding should no deal be reached by monday. if that happens, cyprus's economy faces immediate collapse. in that cypriot's words, the negotiations are in a very delicate phase. the monday deadline is looming. whatever is agreed in brussels still needs to be adopted by the cypriot parliament. that is by no means certain. >> i'm following the story for
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us with our correspondent. bring us up-to-date. >> the euro groups finance ministers are in brussels here. they're waiting for the meeting to start. at meeting was originally scheduled for 6:00 local time. that would've been two hours ago. that meeting was delayed by two hours. we're expecting them to start negotiations now, but nothing has been confirmed yet. they haven't started. it's all been very confusing. it didn't look until the very last minute until before the meeting that there was a deal. there were reports that cyprus could need 2 billion euros more than what was initially on the table. it's all very uncertain. >> the reason for that delay is the president of cyprus is still locked in these talks with the ecb, imf, european commission. why are these talks dragging on for so long? parliamente cypriot
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rejected the initial plan on tuesday, cyprus has been talking with that troika intensively for the whole week, but no deal was produced. the key sticking point there is the banking sector. the cypriot president decided to come to brussels himself to hold talks with the top representatives, heads of all of the troika institutions. they couldn't get agreement as to how the 5.8 billion euros that cyprus needs to contribute can actually be raised. or were reports that the cypriot president at one point even threatened to resign because he said the demands by the imf or so great. >> those talks are ongoing. they said they did come up with a deal. could that unravel in the euro group meeting afterwards? >> it could. the euro zone finance ministers do have some leeway, but they are very reluctant to make some kind of a bigger compromise to cyprus.
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they have said, we won't give any more money. but they also said, we all have a big interest that cyprus does stay in the eurozone. what is sure is that we are looking at a very long night indeed, and there will be a lot of number crunching. >> we will be with you throughout that long night. thanks very much. is a weekend of chaos in the central african republic. rebel forces have seized control of the capital bangui, prompting the president to flee. his current whereabouts are unknown. this up evil comes after a peace deal signed in january -- up evil -- upheaval comes after a peace deal signed in january. amid the chaos and confusion, people gathered up their belongings and try to flee the fighting.
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there was anger at the insurgents. this crowd beat a suspected rebel. in the capital, eyewitnesses said the rebels control strategic locations. foreign forces helping the government also suffered a defeat. the south african soldiers were tasked with guarding bangui. is himself a former soldier. ruleast few months of his were turbulent. his term is not up until 2016. rebels said they want to hold elections. there is still heavy fighting in bangui. a peaceful transition is not on the cards. >> paris musharraf has returned home from self-imposed exile, declaring he was to save the country. musharraf spent the past four years in london and dubai, but now wants to take part in
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elections this may. >> coming home may herald a comeback for musharraf. greeting supporters after stepping off his flight. i've come back, putting my life in danger, in order to save pakistan. >> not everyone in pakistan is happy he is home. the military man made many enemies as president. in 2008, musharraf was forced to quit amid political turmoil i. his political past could come back to haunt him. pakistan's teledyne hates musharraf because he supported george w. bush's war on terror hatesevision -- taliban musharraf because he supported george w. bush's war on terror.
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police are investigating his role in the death of two political opponents, including the former prime minister. it is alleged musharraf did not do enough to prevent her assassination. some pakistanis are nostalgic for musharraf. he is hoping nostalgic will help them in the poll. he is planning to fight elections in may. >> in a moment, the presidents of germany and italy remember a wartime atrocity that was ignored for decades. first, a look at some other stories in brief. u.s. secretary of state john kerry has traveled to baghdad on an unannounced visit that he talks with the premised her. a minister. washington wants baghdad to .top flights the steering coalition refusing to accept the resignation of its leader. ahmed moaz al-khatib stepped
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down as head of syria's biggest opposition group, saying he felt his hands were tied in the role. ahmed moaz al-khatib led the coalition since september. police say there is no indication of foul play in the death of boris berezovsky. forensic scientists specializing in chemical, biological and radio logical substances found no evidence of unusual activity at the former russian oligarch's home. he was found dead there on saturday. he was once one of rush's demand and opponent of vladimir mansia's richest and opponent of vladimir putin. but hundred 29 people help the far right group, helping with money and forged papers. it was a nazi atrocity that justice forgot.
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villages massacred in tuscany. it took more than 50 years for the alleged massacre us to be convicted. presidents of germany and italy came together to remember the victims. >> the massacre that took place here was ignored for decades. the heads of state of both germany and italy met at the site on sunday to ensure that it is not forgotten. the tuscan village is symbolic of the wider atrocities committed by german soldiers during the latter part of the second world war. .oth men seemed deeply moved ss troops rounded up and killed as many as 500 men, women, and children on august 12, 1944. their bodies and the village itself were then set on fire.
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president caucus acknowledged that the crime has never been cleared up. we mustn't cover up the issue of guilt, even if the courts do so. we must acknowledge guilt, and in doing so, we do legitimate any culpable actions -- delegi timate any culpable actions. several former ss officers accused of involvement of the crime continue to live freely in germany. an investigation was prompted into the massacre. >> the start of holy week, with a new pope at the vatican. but francis led palm sunday ceremonies -- pope francis led palm sunday ceremonies. it marks the day when jesus was said to enter jerusalem.
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it is the most important week in the christian calendar and culminates in christ's crucifixion and resurrection. onto sports. storming to victory in the malaysian grand prix. he infuriated his team by overtaking his australian teammate mark webber. webber was not too happy about it either. savored his victory in front of a cheering crowd, while some were fuming. the world champion ignored team orders when he made his bid to come first. 10 laps before the finish line, he was in second place behind mark webber. that's where he was meant to stay, to secure first and second place for red bull. instead, he performed a risky maneuver to overtake webber, but one that paid off. several apologized, but webber did little to hide his
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displeasure. >> the team made a decision. he made decisions, and let protection, and that's the way it is. the fasterhaving car, roseburg stayed behind, letting teammate lewis hamilton take third place. hamilton gave everyone a shock when he accidentally drove into the stop. he had evidently forgotten he was now raising for another team. a surprised mclaren crew waved him through. it was settled 27 formula one victory. the controversy remains it was clearly not his best. >> onto winter sports. the ski jumping world cup came to a thrilling and today with a
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victory for the host country, slovenia. ashley placed 11th, but still won the overall world cup title -- athlete placed 11th, but still won the overall world cup title. >> after helping slovenia to victory in the team event on he wowed. he jumped a total of 425.5 points. there was a close second of 423.7 points. a stellar finish for the host. the highest placing german came ninth with a team roughly behind him. it leaves the germans without a podium finish at the competition. >> that's all for me for now.
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we will be following events in cyprus through the night. do stay with dw in the coming hours.
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>> this newsweek in europe was dominated by cyprus's financial crisis. the idea was to take at least 6.75% from every account, raising enough money to qualify for an international bailout and the country going bankrupt -- and stop the country going bankrupt. >> the solution we went with is not the one we would have wanted. under the circumstances, it was the least painful one because above all, at least in places the economy in our hands. .> many cypriots were furious
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the government changed the plan to let those with less than 20,000 euros in the bank off the hook, but the parliament did the resounding no when it came to a vote on tuesday. euro zone countries made clear cyprus had to come up with the money somehow. >> a one-off levy would bring in about 6 billion euros, but what form that takes is up to the authorities. >> the raise was on to come up with an alternative. in the meantime, the bank said cyprus stayed closed -- in cyprus stayed close. >> somalia's capital was hit with a suicide bombing on monday. the attacker blew up a car, killing 10 people. it was the worst attack there this year. shabab took -- al
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responsibility. their forces were pushed out of the city. >> a connolly's warlord turned himself into the u.s. embassy -- congolese warlord turned himself into the u.s. embassy peer and he was later -- embassy. he was later transported to the hague. germany's defense minister within molly, -- mali, visiting the troops. thomas said germany's help with training must be accomplished -- accompanied with a process of political reconciliation. he said germany would continue to provide assistance as long
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as mali's government needs it. syriare were claims from that the violence there had taken on a new dimension. state tv showed pictures of what it said were victims of a chemical attack by rebels on an area close to aleppo. the rocket contain poisonous gasses. we have had 16 civilian martyrs and 86 wounded, most of whom are in a serious condition. >> the government asked the un to investigate, but the opposition quickly blamed the government for the attack. written and france asked the u.s. -- britain and france asked the un to look into those allegations. if chemical weapons are being used by other side, it will be the first time during the conflict in syria. meanwhile, the steering opposition shows -- chose a new
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leader. the neww the head of interim government. he moved to the u.s. as a young man and is now a u.s. citizen. he was not supported by everyone in the opposition. some said he was being put in place by foreign powers. >> in iraq, a wave of attacks killed around 60 people on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the us-led invasion. it was the deadliest day for months. car bombs and suicide attacks targeted mostly shiite areas in baghdad and other cities. a sunni group linked to al qaeda said it was responsible. it warned of more attacks unless the shiite led government stops executing sunni prisoners. >> the new pope was inaugurated on tuesday. huge crowds gathered in the vatican. with a's first mass shorter and simpler affair than pope benedict's in 2005.
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many catholics welcomed what they call the new pope's more simple style. wednesday, french police raided the paris home of christine lagarde, the head of the international monetary fund. the authorities are looking into her role in a deal back in 2008 when she was france's finance minister. 280cision she made led to million euros being awarded to a billionaire supporter of then president nicolas sarkozy. it was a week of scandals for french politicians. sarkozy was put under investigation for exploiting the christinegility of lagarde. the german government decided not to ask a
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constitutional court to ban a far right party, the npd. free, wereparty, the strongly against the plan, saying the risk of failure was .oo great germany's upper house of parliament is going ahead with an attempt to get the extremist party banned. >> according to the german calendar, wednesday marks the start of spring. but it did not look like that across much of the country. northern and eastern areas in particular were still covered in snow. tourists in berlin were not impressed. >> we were in holiday. it's not really what you want. is really pretty, but it is a bit cold. locals were battling with the weather too.
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icy streets meant treacherous driving conditions. the cold weather was blamed for a tragic accident on thursday near to the city's olympic stadium. two police helicopters collided during a training exercise. one of the pilots was killed. four other people were injured. >> barack obama was in israel for his first official visit. he also visited the occupied territories. not everyone in the west bank was pleased to see him. he had strong words of support for the palestinian cause when he gave a speech to young israelis in jerusalem. thatraelis must recognize continued settlement activity is counterproductive to the cause of peace, and an independent palestine must be viable with real borders that have to be drawn. put yourself in their shoes.
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look at the world through their eyes. it is not fair that a palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of their own. living their entire lives with the presence of a foreign army that controls the movements, not just of theirs young people but their parents and grandparents everyday. >> obama also made clear that america's alliance with israel is eternal. many palestinians were disappointed that despite those words, he did not demand that israel stop building settlements. peace between israelis and palestinians look as far off as ever. during obama's visits, militants in gaza fired rockets into israel. no one was hurt. >> in syria, the violence continued through the week. on thursday, a suicide bombing
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in damascus killed at least 40 people, including one of the most prominent sunni supporters of president bashar al-assad. clerk was preaching in a mosque when the bomb went off, sheikh mohammad al-bouti. he was well-known in in syria for his televised sermons. the head of the kurdish militant group, the pkk, called for peace with turkey. he is in a turkish jail, but his statement was read out to supporters. >> we are at the point where weapons should be silenced, and ideas should be spoken. a new era has begun. >> he called for his fighters to pull out of turkey. he has been engaged in months for talks -- four months in talks with the turkish government. >> i think this is a very positive approach. it is a very positive appeal.
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what is most important is how far this will be of limited -- implement it. >> -- implemented. >> if it holds, it will mean the end to 30 years of fighting. >> lebanon's government decided to step down after a standoff with hezbollah. the prime minister had been in office for over two years. hezbollah had helped put him in office, but they fell out over domestic issues. there were also tensions over neighboring syria. hezbollah strongly backs president bashar al-assad. >> on friday, cyprus was still trying to find a way out of its financial crisis. the finance minister had tried russia, traveling to moscow to drum up support for it he left without clinching -- support. he left without clinching a
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deal. time is running out. the european central bank said it would cut off emergency funding if a plan was not in place by monday. friday saw some signs of progress. pearlman passed bills to restructure the banks and place restrictions on transactions in times of crisis -- harlem and passed bills to restructure the banks and place restrictions on transactions in times of crisis. but at the end of the day, he has still not come up with the 5.8 billion euros that was being demanded. >> the countries that ask for solidarity must be prepared to do what is required of them. >> by friday night, cyprus was still looking at the possibility of financial disaster if a deal was not agreed. the tournament is normally held in june and july, when temperatures i our above 50
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degrees centigrade. no decision has been made, but there have been calls to switch to winter in 2022 to avoid heat.
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